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Times of Trenton Letters to the Editor - July 12

Trenton gunfight outside deli that left 2 wounded captured on surveillance camerasTwo views of a May 25 gunfight on Martin Luther King Boulevard and Beakes Street in Trenton, courtesy of surveillance cameras installed by the deli. Two men were wounded in the shooting, police say no arrests have been made. The gun battle is just one of 94 shooting incidents in Trenton between Jan. 1 and June 30, which have killed 15 and wounded 105 people.

A map of shooting incidents in Trenton from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2013. Blue dots are non-fatal shootings. Red dots are fatal shootings. The Times could not get information about seven additional shooting incidents. Map created by Jon Offredo, data compiled by Alex Zdan. Click here for the map in a larger size.

Times draws attention to capital city crime

Bravo to The Times for its front-page series of articles this week (“Six months of crime,” July 7; “The guns,” July 8; “The response,” July 9) on crime in Trenton. Thanks for helping to make others aware of what is going on in our capital.

The Times’ influence, i.e. choice and placement of news articles, is valuable in making others — especially those in a position to do something about it — aware of what’s going on.

I feel that The Times is a newspaper that will report the grit of the city and not just the fluff of the suburbs. Thank you.

-- Teri Cheresnick,
East Windsor

Tabling Princeton raises is the right thing to do

I have been quite vocal about my concern over raising the salaries of the mayor and members of the Princeton Council at this time. Therefore, I agree with Mayor Liz Lempert that now is not the time to consider raises (“Princeton mayor: Council raises should be shelved, for now,” July10).

It is obvious to me that the mayor and council have faced major issues and challenges that have demanded extraordinary amounts of time, thought and energy. However, having been seated for only six months makes the pay raise proposal premature. Waiting until next year provides the opportunity for council to use its precious time now to deal with matters that are critical to the success of the consolidated Princeton. As Councilman Lance Liverman has said, “It’s about moving ahead with things.”

The recommendation adopted by the Consolidation Study Commission was very clear. We said, “The elected positions in a consolidated Princeton [should] be compensated at the level currently paid in the Borough for its mayor and governing body.” Of course, recommendations deserve to be reviewed in the light of new realities. I believe the governing body should give itself at least one full year and then revisit the proposal in 2014, when, I trust, the tremendous demands of governing the transition to consolidation are indeed less distracting.

In March or April of 2014, the council should again consider the proposal to adjust salaries, and I anticipate that at that time an increase would be appropriate. I would support a proposal to invest in our elected officials, to encourage new candidates to seek office and to raise salaries at that time — one year ahead of the three years anticipated by the Consolidation Study Commission.

-- Anton Lahnston,
Princeton
The writer is former chairman of the Princeton Consolidation and Shared Services Study Commission.

Oil rigs off the coast exposed to storms

I thank Rep. Chris Smith (R-Robbinsville) for voting against H.R. 2231, which would expand offshore oil drilling. I can’t forget the photos of homes lifted off of their foundations and thrown together in a circle after Hurricane Sandy. What would a hurricane do to oil rigs off of our coast? It’s hard to imagine how big the FEMA bill would be after rescuing thousands of property owners because oil companies cannot be held accountable for a natural disaster and I wonder how many state services would be cut because shore towns cannot generate millions in tax revenue after an oil spill.

Unfortunately, enough representatives voted yes, so the bill passed in the House. I’ve driven the coastal road in the Gulf, from Pass Christian, Miss., to the panhandle of Florida and seen that there are miles and miles between shore towns. Oil spills on miles of empty beach along the Gulf Coast will not produce the financial devastation that oil spills on miles of shore town beaches in New Jersey would. Most of America’s shoreline is not wall-to-wall cities, so it’s hard for lawmakers from other states to realize why New Jersey is so vulnerable.

I ask readers to please contact our senators to remind them that New Jersey has so much more to lose than other states if hurricanes hit oil rigs off of the Jersey coast.

-- Rebecca Dutton,
Robbinsville

FairTax champion leaves great legacy

The FairTax movement lost a friend, patron and mentor with the passing last month of Leo E. Linbeck Jr. Few are as fortunate as I am to have met a man of his caliber.

Leo Linbeck built buildings and communities. His lifelong career was at the Linbeck Group of Houston, the construction management firm started by his father. Beginning as a carpenter, he became senior chairman of a company ranked sixth-largest builder in the U.S. Mr. Linbeck sat on boards of Fortune corporations and was chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Leo Linbeck believed in leaving his community and his country better than he found it. He was tapped to lead the investigation into the 1999 bonfire tragedy at Texas A&M University. He co-founded Texans for Lawsuit Reform and Americans for Fair Taxation.
When I met Mr. Linbeck, two attributes stood out.

First was his intellect. His ability to incisively analyze and solve problems left no doubt as to why he was successful.

Second, there was nothing pretentious about this man. His philanthropic spotlight shone outward, never on him. He was a model for his family and his strong Catholic faith.
Leo Linbeck will be remembered for his recognition of the destructive nature of our tax system. He put his personal resources behind a solution known as the FairTax. Ours is to honor his legacy by seeing the FairTax through.

-- James M. Bennett,
Summit
The writer is FairTax volunteer regional director for New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Checks and balances for ‘Big Brother’

The public has become acutely aware of the “Big Brother” syndrome of government overstepping its bounds and intruding into people’s personal privacy. A series of bills I have introduced (A4305-A4310), as well as ACR200 and ACR 201, help to remedy some of those concerns through our system of checks and balances. There must be a demonstrated security or law-enforcement need by a government agency to access information that is considered personal. People are guaranteed the right of due process. Reports of government intrusion into this hallowed entitlement have many questioning the extent to which this right is respected.

Freedom of the press has always been a birthright of this country’s citizens, yet the U.S. Department of Justice did not afford the Associated Press and Fox News the opportunity to repress reporters’ phone records and e-mails, a serious breach of this freedom. Congress must pass the Free Flow of Information Act of 2013, which provides journalists the opportunity to challenge a federal subpoena that seeks information identifying a media source. The public must have confidence that government is there to protect its rights, not trample them.

-- Amy Handlin,
Belford
The writer, a Republican, represents the 13th District in the New Jersey General Assembly.